Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Photos of operational aircraft from bases, airports and "spotter" outings
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Tommy
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Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by Tommy »

A small silver lining of COVID is an abundance of unused annual leave, so during 2021, I made the most of that and tried to get as much spotting under my belt as I could!

Given the forum loss, I thought I'd like to wrap up my 2021, so if you'll indulge me.

Mods - I've included one or two events/museums/civvis in here too to avoid spamming the place, hope that's ok.

Obviously much of 2021 was met with lockdown for much of it. My first aviation outing was the South Wales Air Museum (SWAM) at St Athan. A charming little place and a growing museum, including the wreckage of the infamous RIAT '93 MiGs:
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2. And the new (at the time) Wessex, which I think came from Historic Helicopters after they deemed it not worthy of restoring to airworthiness.
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Next, beyond a few trips to Welshpool for some spam cans, I took a few days off to chase POTUS around the country for the G7 summit. including:

3. Mildenhall:
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4. RAF Northolt, for the practices (I was the only person to get these Nighthawk take-off shots that day)
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8. Then, for the Friday, to IWM Duxford. I've not been for some time.
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For the Saturday a special treat. I spent some time with my brother and his fiancée in Wellingborough and made the short hop to Sywell to see Peter Teichman turn up with his Russian Spitfire, complete with a bomb-load, which was great to see.

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Sunday was spent at Myrtle Avenue awaiting POTUS.

13. Great to complete the set and catch the final BA special
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16. Pleased to also finally catch a semi-passable shot of an AAC Dauphin
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A quick zip to the other side of LHR for the departure:

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And a few days later to the Mach Loop to see what was out and about:

23. Great to see Texans low level.
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29. Probably my final time seeing black Hawk T1s low level in the Loop, too.
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4th July saw the Shuttleworth Military Pageant - It was *so* good to attend an airshow again. Great to see Historic Helis' Junglie make its debut.
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Very soon after, it was to RAF Shawbury over a lunch break to catch the RAF Puma 50th anniversary celebration flypast:

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In August, I took a couple of days to attend the washed-out Historic Helicopters open day, plus some time down the south west for spotting/museum visits:

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FAAM

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The Helicopter Museum at Weston Super Mare

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Next up was Cosby - an old favourite of mine. The My first ever nightshoot on the Saturday.

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Sunday saw better weather:
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56. Excellent to see MH415!
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To RAF Cosford for a Cadet gathering and some Puma/Chinook flights

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60. All I've had from the Reds in two years!
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Then to RAF Fairford to catch the B-1s for a couple of days.
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The final batch isn't published - the last week in November, I zipped over to spend a few days at RAF Mildenhall/Lakenheath. It's been a while since I've visited, so it was great to get back there.

The primary purpose was to catch any RC-135s I could, plus flesh out my hard drive with a few more F-15C/D images before they depart for good next year. Nice to see the "SJ" Strike Eagles in town, plus a bunch of nose-art on the Panthers that doesn't seem to have washed off yet.

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76. Some subtle Pennywise nose art on this one, for the Stephen King fans.
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79. Some of the Eagles are already losing their unit markings ahead of returning to the States.
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And, finally, to Coventry, to Threshold.aero's nightshoot with Shackleton WR963 and Nimrod XV232

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And that's that! A massive congratulations if you've made it this far. I'd forgotten how much I had actually managed to get under my belt this year. Nightshoots in particular are quite new and interesting, as my lockdown splurge on myself was a tripod, museums are also easier to shoot.

C&C as always, is welcome. I hope the above thread is of interest to some.

Happy Christmas and here's to a prosperous 2022 to you all.

Cheers,

Tom :)

Spiny Norman
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by Spiny Norman »

That was an enjoyable run through, thanks for posting them up. Not jealous at AF1 in sunshine at all...

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Seamus
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by Seamus »

Great stuff mate, you've certainly had a full and varied year. Great to finally meet you at LHR and spend the day with you at Cosby too, no doubt will catch up again next year 😎
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SWATCO
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by SWATCO »

A cracking set mate, you made the most of this year considering all that's gone on. Onto 2022! :cowboy:

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GeorgeP
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by GeorgeP »

An excellent selection that has everything from rotor-wing to modern fast jets. You made good use of your time off during an awful Covid year. Best wishes to you for 2022.
Cheers,

George

Melbourne, Australia.

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Tommy
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by Tommy »

Cheers all, that’s very kind.

Best of luck to everyone for a happier and more prosperous 2022!

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jalfrezi
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by jalfrezi »

Nice stuff Tommy, it was good to get to a few of these events with you. Let's hope for a better 2023!

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LN Strike Eagle
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by LN Strike Eagle »

AF1 departure from LHR is a cracker - I kinda wish we'd stayed for that in hindsight, and I'm super jealous of those low level Eagles.
"You really are an oafish philistine at times!"

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pako-2008
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Re: Tommy's 2021 Roundup (Heavy!)

Post by pako-2008 »

Great set Tom, packed in quite a lot despite the late start there.

Particularly like the USMC VH-3s at Northolt. Was good to briefly catch up as Biden departed though. Hope to see you in the coming year mate.
Cheers
Aaron

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